CONCORD FEMINIST HEALTH CENTER
38 S. MAIN ST.
CONCORD, NH 3301
603-225-2739

TAPE – 769

(Dialing, phone ringing 1x)

CLINIC: Good morning. Concord Feminist Health Center.

CALLER: Hi. Yeah. I was calling to see if you guys do abortions there.

CLINIC: Yes, we do.

CALLER: Okay. Do you know how much it cost to do that?

CLINIC: Yes, it’s $450 on a Visa or Master Card, $410 on a money order. We don’t accept cash or personal checks. And then we also are contracted with major health insurances.

CALLER: The thing is, I’m going to be 14 later on this month, and my friend told me that you guys would have to tell my parents. But my boyfriend’s 22. Is he old enough to take care of it, and you wouldn’t have to tell anybody?

CLINIC: Okay. I’m sorry. So you’re 13 now?

CALLER: Right.

CLINIC: Okay.

CLINIC: But I’ll be 14 on the 19th.

CLINIC: What state do you live in?

CALLER: I live in New Hampshire.

CLINIC: Okay. Let me put you on old for one quick second for me, okay?

CALLER: Okay.

(Pause)

CLINIC: Hi. Thanks for holding. Yes, there is no parental consent here in New Hampshire. Your parents do not have to know anything. You have the right to receive any services here in New Hampshire.

CALLER: The thing is, me and my boyfriend were talking about all this, and he said that he would pay cash for everything. But he just doesn’t want to sign any forms. Would that be all right?

CLINIC: Well, that’s something that you’re going to have to talk to your counselor and stuff about. Because it does get to be some situation with this age difference here.

CALLER: What do you mean?

CLINIC: I mean, we’re going to have to give you some referrals, and you’re going to be able to talk to your counselor about this. There’s nothing that he’s going to need to sign. You’ll be signing for yourself consent forms. And the only thing you’ll need to provide though — you will need to provide us with an emergency contact name and information in case of an emergency.

CALLER: Well, what do you mean by referrals? What is that?

CLINIC: Well, when we speak to women in their counseling session, every woman who comes in here, you’ll meet with a health worker, and discuss your decision, and discuss your pregnancy situation, and make sure that you’re comfortable with this decision, and that this is what you want to do. You will have a counseling session.

CALLER: Okay. Well, me and my boyfriend, we’ve been talking about this every time we talk about it.

CLINIC: Do you know how far along you are in your pregnancy?

CALLER: Well, my last period was January 3rd.

CLINIC: Are your periods normal, was normal in flow and length?

CALLER: Usually.

CLINIC: But was it a completely normal period for you though?

CALLER: Yeah.

CLINIC: You’re almost about nine weeks along in your pregnancy. So we can see you up until the beginning of April. So we can certainly see you here.

Are you interested in making an appointment?

CALLER: Well, I was just wanting to ask you — I just haven’t had a pregnancy test. Do you guys do that before everything?

CLINIC: You need to go ahead and do that. You can just go ahead and get a home test.

CALLER: Are those right?

CLINIC: Yeah. Those are very, very accurate. Go ahead and take that and as long as you know your period date was normal and you know the first day of it like you do. As soon as you get a positive pregnancy test, that’s all we require here to make an appointment.

CALLER: Well, if it ended up that I wasn’t pregnant, could I get birth control from you guys?

CLINIC: You sure can. Yep, that’s fine. We can take care of anything that you need here for that.

CALLER: But would anybody have to know if I was on birth control?

CLINIC: No, no. You don’t need parental consent for that.

CALLER: My boyfriend was really wanting to know if anybody would have to be told about us.

CLINIC: Well, that’s one thing here that — I’m going to be honest with you. I went and I asked our practitioner about that. And that’s something I guess that would come up more during our counseling session. I’m sorry that I seem to be stumbling on my words. I’m going to put you on hold for one other quick second. I’m going to see if someone can try to give you some more answers about this, okay? Can you hold on for me one second?

CALLER: Okay. Well, what was your name?

CLINIC: My name’s Nicole.

CALLER: Okay.

CLINIC: Hold on one second.

(Pause)

CLINIC: What’s your name?

CALLER: It’s Lisa.

CLINIC: Lisa, I’m talking with a few other health workers because this is a situation honestly that doesn’t come up too often. And we want to find out a little bit more about this so we can be honest and up front with you before you make a decision.

CALLER: Okay.

CLINIC: Is there a number where we can reach you at to call you back? We’re going to make a few phone calls and just find out some general information.

CALLER: Well, I’m at my friend’s house, and her mom would answer the phone.

CLINIC: Okay. Do you want to call us back then in like a couple of hours?

CALLER: All right.

CLINIC: How about 2:00, you want to call us back?

CALLER: Okay.

CLINIC: I won’t be here. When you call back, Lisa, why don’t you ask for a woman. Her name’s Karen.

CALLER: Karen?

CLINIC: Karen, okay?

CALLER: Okay.

CLINIC: And make sure you give us a call. We’ll help you out as much as we can with everything, okay?

CALLER: All right.

CLINIC: All right.

CALLER: Thank you.

CLINIC: You’re welcome. Bye bye.

(D-769, Side B)

(Dialing, phone ringing 1x)

CLINIC: (Unclear) Family Health Center.

CALLER: Hi. Yeah. Can I talk to Karen, please?

CLINIC: Karen Ashton?

CALLER: I don’t know. They just said to talk to Karen.

CLINIC: Okay. What’s your name?

CALLER: It’s Lisa.

CLINIC: Lisa what?

CALLER: Carter.

CLINIC: Carter. Okay. Let me see if she’s busy with someone. She may be. Hold on please.

CALLER: Okay.

(Pause)

CLINIC: She’s busy. Can I take a message?

CALLER: Well, she told me to call her back.

CLINIC: So just tell her that you returned her call.

CALLER: Yeah. Well, she was checking on something for me. So she said to — but could I talk to Nicole maybe?

CLINIC: Um-hmm.

CALLER: Okay.

CLINIC: No. I’m sorry. I thought you said you did talk to Nicole. Nicole’s gone too.

CALLER: Oh, okay. Well, I did talk to Nicole, and she was answering my questions. And she told me to talk to Karen and that Karen would look up some stuff for me.

CLINIC: Will you be wherever you are in about an hour or so?

CALLER: Yeah. Could I call you in an hour?

CLINIC: Yeah, you can call us in an hour. Would you rather that than us call you?

CALLER: Yeah.

CLINIC: Okay. All right. Why don’t you do that?

CALLER: Okay.

CLINIC: All right. Bye.

(Dialing, phone ringing 2x)

CLINIC: (Unclear) Feminist Health Center.

CALLER: Hi. Could I talk to Karen, please?

CLINIC: Hold on please.

(Pause)

CLINIC: Who’s calling, please?

CALLER: It’s Lisa.

CLINIC: Okay. Hold on.

(Short pause)

CLINIC: Lisa, she’s actually busy with someone, but she did let me know further what was going on. And she said we’re not going to deny any services or anything. So I can just go ahead and set up an appointment with you.

CALLER: Okay. What was your name?

CLINIC: Jessica.

CALLER: Oh, okay. All right.

CLINIC: Do you want to go ahead and do that?

CALLER: I’m just concerned because my boyfriend and I were talking about all this, and we just want to make sure that he wouldn’t have to fill out any forms or anything or his name wouldn’t be on anything.

CLINIC: No.

CALLER: All right. So you’re sure nobody would know about him then?

CLINIC: About him?

CALLER: Uh-huh.

CLINIC: You mean like being reported for statutory rape or anything?

CALLER: What?

CLINIC: Like what do you mean would know about him?

CALLER: Well, he said that he doesn’t want anyone to know about us.

CLINIC: Um-hmm, right. I see what you’re saying, yeah. No, we’re going to go about it in a confidential way, and we’ll sort of just talk about things when you come in. But we’re not going to release any information to anyone at this point at all.

CALLER: Well, would you ever have to tell anybody?

CLINIC: I don’t think so. I don’t really know the details. Maybe Karen is better for you to speak to about this. She was the one who checked out the laws or whatever, so I don’t know. And she’s still talking with someone. So do you want to just try back again?

CALLER: All right.

CLINIC: Okay. Sorry, Lisa.

CALLER: Oh, no problem.

CLINIC: All right. Bye.

(Dialing, busy signal)

(Dialing, busy signal)

(Dialing, busy signal)

(Dialing, phone ringing 1x)

CLINIC: (Unclear) Feminist Health Center. May I help you?

CALLER: Hi. Yeah. I was wanting to talk to Karen.

CLINIC: Karen’s on another line right now. Do you want to wait or have her call you back? Or is there something I can help you with?

CALLER: Well, everyone was saying to talk to Karen.

CLINIC: I’m sorry?

CALLER: Everybody was saying to talk to Karen.

CLINIC: Okay. What’s your name?

CALLER: Lisa Carter.

CLINIC: Lisa Carter?

CALLER: Yeah.

CLINIC: And is it about an appointment that you have with us?

CALLER: Well, I had a question.

CLINIC: Do you have an appointment with us?

CALLER: No.

CLINIC: Oh, okay.

CALLER: I wanted to ask the question before I made an appointment.

CLINIC: Oh, okay. Well, I can try and answer your question, if it’s something I can answer.

CALLER: Yesterday I asked a couple people, and they both said to talk to Karen.

CLINIC: Oh, okay. Is it about finances?

CALLER: No.

CLINIC: Okay. All right. Do you want to hold?

CALLER: It’s just about whether or not you would have to report my boyfriend.

CLINIC: Right. Okay, yeah. I think she was looking into that. So why don’t you hold on for just a minute.

CALLER: Okay.

(Short pause)

CLINIC: Lisa?

CALLER: Uh-huh?

CLINIC: Hi. This is Jane again. I just talked to Karen for a second. She has to finish the appointment that she’s making on the other line.

CALLER: Okay.

CLINIC: I don’t think we have a really clear-cut answer for you. We are mandated to report if somebody is under 13. If you’re over 13 —

CALLER: Well, I’ll be 14 on the 19th.

CLINIC: Uh-huh. If you’re under 18, the way that the law is, it says that if you’re being sexually exploited and you’re under 18, then it’s reportable.

CALLER: But I’m not being exploited.

CLINIC: But the law makes it as — the fact that your boyfriend is older, that in and of itself, they might interpret that as exploitation. I will tell you that if you want to come in here and receive birth control services from us, and — the thing is, if you give us information — if you tell us anything — then we may end up having to report it, if you tell us anything about your relationship.

CALLER: Okay.

CLINIC: So if you just make an appointment —

CALLER: Well, does it matter what age I am?

CLINIC: I’m sorry?

CALLER: Does it matter what age I am?

CLINIC: No. As a minor you can receive birth control services, and you can also receive an abortion without parental consent.

CALLER: So if I don’t say anything about my boyfriend, it would be better?

CLINIC: If you really don’t want this reported. You’re very young, and he’s older. Are you feeling like this is completely voluntary?

CALLER: Yeah. I mean, we’re in love. We’re going to get married. He’s a great guy. He said he was going to take care of me forever. I mean, we’ll have a family later but just not right now.

CLINIC: Uh-huh. You think you might be pregnant now?

CALLER: Well, yeah. I haven’t had my period since January 3rd, and that’s why I think that I’m pregnant.

CLINIC: Okay. January 3rd. Let me just check the date.

Are you on a cell phone?

CALLER: No.

CLINIC: There’s weird sounds on your phone.

CALLER: I’m on a cordless.

CLINIC: You’re on a what?

CALLER: A cordless.

CLINIC: Oh. Okay, yeah. So it’s been about nine weeks since your last period. So if you’re wanting to have an abortion, that should happen pretty soon.

Is there nobody in your family that you can tell about this?

CALLER: No. I mean, it’s just me and my mom and dad. And I can’t tell them at all. I mean, they know about my boyfriend, and they know we’re going out. I mean, he works with my dad. But they don’t know we’re having sex. I mean, if they found out about that, I don’t know what they would do. They’d be furious.

CLINIC: Yeah.

CALLER: So they can’t find out at all.

CLINIC: Yeah. You know, I just want to say, I think it would be a really good idea if you would talk to somebody about this whole situation, maybe a counselor at school, somebody outside of your family.

CALLER: But if I don’t say anything about my boyfriend, you won’t report it?

CLINIC: That’s what I’m saying. If we aren’t aware — if the person that you talk with isn’t aware, there would still be concern about the fact that you’re young. It’s kind of a gray area. I can’t give you an absolute answer one way or the other. It just depends on what’s — what we are confronted with when you come in. But definitely, if you need an abortion, we will give you an abortion.

CALLER: Okay.

CLINIC: And we have appointments a week from today, I believe. Let me just check and make sure of that. Have you not found out whether you’re pregnant or not yet?

CALLER: No.

CLINIC: You haven’t had a test?

CALLER: I was wanting to come in and get one of those.

CLINIC: Can you come in say on Monday, Monday afternoon.

CALLER: Well, do you have hours tomorrow? Because my boyfriend doesn’t work on Saturdays.

CLINIC: You could do a home pregnancy test.

CALLER: Oh. Are those usually right though?

CLINIC: Yes, they are. If you get a positive result, we would accept the result of that, and just make an appointment based on that. So if you take one tomorrow morning and it’s positive, you could call tomorrow because there are people on the phone 8:30 to 4:30 tomorrow.

CALLER: Well, if it turned out that I wasn’t pregnant, could I get birth control from you guys then?

CLINIC: Yes.

CALLER: But the thing is, I can’t drive yet. Would my boyfriend be able to pick up the pills?

CLINIC: No. You would have to come in for a physical exam. When we prescribe the pill, we have to do a check-up first.

CALLER: Okay. But after that?

CLINIC: Yeah.

CALLER: He could pick up the pills then?

CLINIC: Well, I mean, we don’t — where do you live?

CALLER: I live in Davisville.

CLINIC: We have prescribe birth control pills, and we will give a couple of free packs at first, but we can’t keep on giving them out for free. We’re not a Planned Parenthood clinic. At Planned Parenthood clinics they can give them either for free or for very low cost because they get federal funding to provide low-cost services —

CALLER: So would it be better to go there?

CLINIC: — especially with teenagers. Yeah. For ongoing care, it’d be better to go to Planned Parenthood.

CALLER: But would they have to tell anybody about anything?

CLINIC: I don’t believe so. Again, I don’t want to tell you necessarily to withhold information, but that’s the situation you’re in. This is a tough — you have to understand that from an adult perspective, looking at your situation, it doesn’t seem right, you know?

CALLER: Yeah.

CLINIC: Because somebody your age, generally, it would be better for them to wait until they have a little bit better judgment about things. And sometimes a man who’s older can seem very kind and considerate of you, but —

CALLER: He’s wonderful.

CLINIC: Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t know what to tell you.

CALLER: Okay.

CLINIC: It’s a situation that arouses concern in adults when they see that kind of an age gap. So you might run into some questions. I don’t necessarily think that you would end up being reported, but there will be questions if people know.

CALLER: Well, I’ve got to go. My friend’s mom is coming. I’ve got to go.

CLINIC: Okay. So go have a test and call us.

CALLER: Okay. Thank you. Bye.

CLINIC: Bye bye.

***END***

1